Spectacular discoveries at Mound C at the Etowah site in Georgia, the result of excavations there and in Mississippi from 1924 to 1928, changed the American perspective of the artistic achievements of prehistoric Native Americans in the eastern United States. These discoveries, in a mound that had supposedly already been excavated under the sponsorship of the Smithsonian Institution in 1883, made up the final major field expedition of Warren King Moorehead, a legendary figure in American archaeology.

The papers, written in the first person and originally published in 1932, at the end of what is considered the humanistic "golden age" of American anthropology, today offer a fresh understanding of the history of American archaeology and of the cultural heritage of prehistoric Native America. The Etowah site was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1965.

Contents:

• I. Exploration of the Etowah Site in Georgia, by Warren King Moorehead
  
• II. History and Symbolism of the Muskhogeans, by Charles C. Willoughby
  
• III. A Study of the Ceramic Art of the Etowans, by Margaret E. Ashley
  
• IV. Comparison between Etowan, Mexican and Mayan Designs, by Zelia Nuttall

• V. Molluscan Shells from the Etowah Mounds, by Frank Collins Baker
  
  

Warren King Moorehead (1866-1939) was known during his time as the dean of American archaeology. He was a member of the field staff for Indian exhibits at the Chicago World’s Fair of 1893 and was the first curator of the Ohio Historical Society. At the time of his Etowah research he was director of the Robert S. Peabody Museum of Archaeology at Philips Academy in Andover.